Imperfect Reflections
by withtheseidlehands
Summary: While Zuko is under the impression that his efforts to restore the Fire Nation are moving slowly but successfully, an infamous, scarred and small-wasited rebel is brought into the throne room and forces him to face the truth.


Hello people! So this is my first time writing... just about anything recreational, so take it easy on me please heh. This is just an idea that popped into my head one day and inspired me take a leap and try out something new; therefore, it will probably be one shot. However, I like to keep possibilities open so let's just see how this goes. Reviews are most welcome, good or bad but please try to be understanding for I have literally no creative writing experience. This is way too long and I'll stop now. Enjoy!

Also, **disclamer:** I own no rights to Avatar: The Last Airbender, it's characters and concepts, or quite frankly anything else aside from this idea. _cries._

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Zuko made his way through the double doors of his council room with obvious stress lining his features. Since becoming Fire Lord and being saddled with the responsibilities of salvaging what was left of the nation, there were many things he dreaded and disliked about about his life in its current state. Of course there was the loss of his social life and contact with his friends, and the ever-predictable crumbling of his relationship with his grumpy aristocratic love interest, Mai.

Despite these personal ailments it was this time of the week that caused him the most trepidation. Today was the day he brought a group of his most trusted advisors into the council room to discuss the pressing issues that his nation was facing at the time, along with the progress of ongoing projects that were moving along slowly but surely. It was during these meetings that the young ruler was forced to face just how much work needed to be done in order to restore his nation. Regardless of the pressure, he focused his efforts on keeping a positive attitude and facing the grave challenge as best he could.

The scarred ruler walked across the room and took his seat at the head of the long table, eyeing all of his advisors meaningfully. He look down and scanned through the agenda and schedule for the following week and sighed heavily once finished. Looking around the table once more, Zuko finally spoke in a strong and determined tone, "Okay. Let's get started then, shall we?"

The following two hours consisted of tireless discussions on budget cuts and disbursements, unity and rebuilding projects, and endless talk and arguments about the future of their country. By the end of it all the young firebender felt effete yet utterly accomplished, knowing full well that all of their efforts were showing results and they were indeed making progress.

He looked down at his last document and put it in its place in the thick stack of papers that made up the meeting's agenda. A slight grin adorned his sculpted features as he looked up and opened his mouth to dismiss the group of tired men; however, he stopped when he heard the advisor next to him clear his throat and begin to stand.

"There is one matter to attend to before we adjourn today," the man he remembered as Jin said as he stood up completely, "the judging of the bandit."

Zuko looked up at him curiously. "What are you talking about?"

To this, another one of his advisors turned to look at the ruler and spoke, "We managed to apprehend one of our most wanted fugitives yesterday evening. Her name is Leena and she is wanted for several counts of thievery."

"Why is she of such grave importance?" Zuko inquired as he glared at the man.

The advisor continued, "As I mentioned, Leena is wanted for numerous counts of burglary and has evaded the law for nearly four years. Since the number of her crimes and charges are so high it is considered high treason against the Fire Nation; therefore she must be judged and sentenced by you personally, Fire Lord Zuko."

Zuko scoffed humorlessly, having not quite gotten used to such a heavy title. He looked up at Jin and spoke strictly, "That's absurd. If I had to judge every imbecile that decided to steal from someone else I would never leave the throne room. I have a country to run and repair, why make time for something so trivial?"

Jin sat down and faced Zuko and spoke again, "Acts of high treason are relatively rare your highness; the catching of the criminal even rarer. Leena is infamous for her crimes and nearly everyone in the Fire Nation knows who she is and what she has done. This is why she must be made an example of."

The tired ruler sighed and rested his head in his hands. He spoke as re rubbed his face, "Alright, fine. Have her escorted to the throne room at midday and don't waste more than two guards on this petty thief. Her sentencing will be a quick affair since she is quite obviously guilty and assigning punishment will be simple. After that we will work on the expenditures for the relief efforts in the colonies and towns. Meeting adjourned," He finished with a tone of finality and stood tall. Gathering up his paperwork, he walked out of the room and left the men to talk amongst themselves.

As he walked to his office Zuko pondered on how he had never heard of this bandit or her crimes, especially given she'd been on the run for so long. He blamed it on the fact that hunting for, and later working with, the Avatar had taken up most of his time and attention. He reached the door to his office and shook his head, symbolically ridding his head of the distracting and trivial thought that filled it.

The ever-busy firebender made his way through his office and wearily took a seat at his desk, placing his handful of papers amongst the rest. He jumped slightly as the candle on his desk began to spark unexpectedly. Counting the rapid pops until their tenth and final one, he reasoned that he had about two hours until the thieve's judgement was to take place, and he was going to spend it in the way he usually spent his time as of late: doing work. After closing his eyes and taking a steaming hot and calming breath, Zuko picked up where he left off the night previous in sorting out and managing the mountain of forms and sheets of stationery that had taken over his desk.

More swiftly than he realized his mind got lost in the mindless job and time seemed to move as rapidly as his calloused hands did as he leafed, organized and read through the seemingly endless stream of paperwork. By the time he finished signing the last form in his allotted stack for the day it was nearly time for the judgement, and the muscles in his hands were cramping from overuse.

Zuko leaned back in his chair and rubbed his thumb into his palm, thinking about what he was to do after this pompous ordeal was finished. He figured since he would attend to the budget prospects for the relief effort after and his work for the day was finished meticulously and early, the afternoon might actually be his to do with what he pleased. A slight lift at the corners of his full lips was the extent of his visible excitement he expressed as he stood and stretched his arms outward.

The young ruler made his way to his rooms and started about the task of changing into his formal robes for the first time in what felt like ages. He had scarcely left the palace since taking his place on the throne, and since walking around doing paperwork and attending endless meeting hardly called for heavy and expensive clothing, his robes had been neglected. After giving himself a reserved once-over glance in the mirror he sighed and hurried off to the room, caring not for his imperfect reflection and holding punctuality in the highest regard given his impatient personality.

Five minutes later the handsome ruer was sitting on the throne in the stuffy throne room, ever-wondering why they kept so many fires alight unnecessarily. He heard footsteps outside the doors and straightened his already perfect posture, readying himself for the short ordeal to come.

He soon watched the doors open then close behind two guards and the young woman they escorted between them, exactly as he had ordered. Zuko studied her silently and thoroughly, immediately noticing her short stature; her position between the tall guards making it that much more obvious. She appeared to stand about five foot four and had unruly, long curly hair hanging loosely around her slim waist that partially hid her angled yet soft features. He eyed the rebellious and carefree sway in her walk and the pure black attire that hugged her full yet strong form like a second skin. Her eyes were glued to the floor, making the facets of he face a mystery to the curious firebender.

 _She's stunning from what I can make of her,_ Zuko thought to himself quickly, _I wouldn't think she's any older than myself._ Zuko thought over this observation as he placed his hands in his lap and crossed his fingers. The girl and her escorts stopped about two feet away from the steps leading up to the throne, the guards stepping back a few steps from the her.

Looking her up and down once more the firebender serving as judge and jury waited for her to look up at him to face her judgement. After a few tantalizing seconds Zuko realized that this would not happen, so he sighed and began to speak, his voice strong and meaningful, "Leena, you are here to face the charges pressed against you be the Fire Nation itself; charges that you have continuously ducked, dodged and evaded for nearly four years. Your actions of thievery have plagued our nation for far too long, and it ends today. On account of your innumerable counts of burglary and treason I, Fire Lord Zuko, find you guilty, and sentence you to -"

Zuko stopped immediately and looked at the slight girl in front of him as he heard a soft click from the stairs at his feet, only to see the right side of the bandit's handcuffs swinging forward freely and a small, needle-thin dagger falling silently to the floor. Leena's head shot up at once, her shining green eyes feral and her plump lips twisted into an angry grimace.

Right as the shocked guards reached forward to grab her, Leena turned swiftly and pushed the pointed knuckle of her middle finger into each one's neck, impacting their windpipes and ability to breathe for the moment. After quickly and accurately hitting several pressure points along their arms the bandit turned to face the rapidly approaching ruler, the guards falling to the floor behind her like dead weight.

Leena turned just in time to notice and block a flame-laced fist aimed straight for her abdomen. Grabbing the incoming fist securely in her much-smaller hand, she held it as tightly as she could and adamantly fought Zuko's frantic attempts to yank it back towards his body. The small girl gasped quietly as she ducked to the left with only mere milliseconds to spare before being punched in the chest by the nimble and seething Fire Lord's other fist. She hurriedly moved behind him, clinging tightly to his clenched fist for dear life and stretched his arm behind his back, barely fighting his strong attempts to pull it back from her grasp.

The striking bandit reached up before he could turn to face her knowing full well his strength was swiftly becoming too much to handle and his determination would not falter. Zuko grunted quietly as he felt her knuckle hit those sensitive key points in shoulder painfully, the whole side right side of this body slumping uselessly just like his guards' bodies had, despite his frantic attempts to move it. The bandit quickly moved to the left side of the boy's strong back and mirrored her actions from before, taking full advantage of his stunned and panicked thoughts.

Zuko felt her hands slide up his back hurriedly up to his shoulders, one hand covering his mouth softly yet firmly, the other clamping around a fistful of his hair and moving his head to the left, her hold strong yet gentle. A light weight settled on his right shoulder as she focused on calming her breathing; small and steady streams of air creeping across his neck and causing a cascade of goosebumps to run along his arms. She finally moved forward, her now tranquil green eyes meeting his livid and anger-filled gold ones. She frowned suddenly and moved back and out of his line of sight.

This is when he noticed a long, thin and deep scar that marred the sharp angles of entire right side of her jawline. He scrunched his sculpted eyebrows together to make a questioning look, but had no time to ponder. He felt her small weight on his shoulder again and heard a heavy sigh, and he knew she was readying herself to speak.

After a few uncomfortable seconds she began to whisper in a somber yet clearly angry tone, "It is rather disappointing that you are actually dull enough to bring only two guards to escort and restrain one of the most dangerous quote unquote 'bandits' in the Fire Nation." She grinned grimly as she tightened the hold of her hand over his mouth, effectively silencing the growls caused by both the insult and the helplessness of his current situation.

The scarred bandit continued softly, "I'm willing to bet everything I own that you don't know a thing about me aside from my name and my supposed crimes. Nothing about my reputation amongst the people you rule, nothing about how you should be thanking me, for I am in fact doing your job for you and risking my life to keep your dying people afloat. All while you sit ignorantly behind ornate doors, signing papers and turning a blind eye to their suffering."

She paused and sighed, shutting her eyes and listening intently for any commotion outside the throne room's doors, only to hear none. Leena turned her gaze to the unconscious guards, their breathing labored yet obvious as she studied the light rise and fall of their chests. She spoke again, "I'm sure you waltzed in here thinking about how big a waste of time it is to have to handle the quick affair of sentencing my life away, and that you fully intended to be back in your cushioned office to sign more papers and make a difference at a snail's pace. That you'd be out of here within half a candle's mark." She scoffed almost to herself and continued, "It's honestly too bad your advisors failed to inform you of what exactly what it is I do and what I am capable of."

Zuko felt the small girl lean on his useless body slightly as she listened for any noise in the hallway only to have her efforts met with more silence. Though he was truly fuming inside about what the supposedly unimportant thief was able to do to both him and his guards, he was listening to her words and they confused him. What was going on in his nation that he did not know about, and who was this woman really?

As if hearing his unspoken questions, Leena began to speak again and she had his attention, only now her tone had switched from passive and annoyed to calm and lethal. "My name is Leena and I steal. I steal from those who have more than they, and generations after them, could ever need and still refuse to give to those who are dying at their doorstep. I steal from those who have never seen a struggle a day in their lifetimes because they are shielded by a noble and respected name. What I steal from them, I give to those that are forced to do the best they can with the crumbs they are given. I give to those whose lives were ruined by the war and since its end have been neglected and forgotten."

She growled quietly, her soft lips moving against the tender flesh of his neck unintentionally. "You have so much nerve dragging me in here like I am some petty criminal when I am literally the only reason hundreds of your people are alive today.

The young bandit stopped and leaned forward to eye the older ruler, meeting the livid though slightly surprised look on his face. She smiled a sad smile and spoke again, still studying his features, "However, it doesn't seem as though I can put much of the blame on you considering the obvious fact that you don't know what the fuck is going on in your nation; right outside those pretty doors and walls you have surrounding you."

Both the Fire Lord and the bandit looked forward at the sound of metal moving as one of the guard's feet began to twitch. Leena moved back and rested her head on his shoulder once more. "I'll leave you with this, I'm actually helping you in an unconventional way, and trust me when I tell you that those that I am taking from do not go without anything a day in their lives. Everything I take is easily replaceable. In truth I am not hurting anyone. I make it a point to avoid violence and am careful in what I do. You will find that it is in your best interest to stay out of my way and let me do my job.

She moved forward for the last time to look him in the eye, grave seriousness lining her attractive features. "I'm sorry it worked out this way. I do not like hurting anybody, especially since I see now that this is much your fault," she said as she looked at him, apology sincere and passionate in her kind eyes.

Looking his face up and down, she continued as an almost playful smile creeped across her lips, "I'm sure you're as smart as you are attractive." As her smile widened she looked down at the floor almost shyly.

Turning back to him her eyes held their gentle seriousness again and she began, " I ask that you try to be more aware of what is going on out there. People are dying Zuko, and they need you desperately. Please try harder for their sake."

Zuko closed his eyes as he felt her turn her head to face the guards, both of which were now beginning to stir. "Well that was quick," Leena whispered almost to herself as she rose up from her knees behind him and released her grip on his hair.

She quickly, yet gently, lowered him to the ground, her hand still firm over his mouth. The bandit bent down and placed her lips near his ear and spoke lightly, " Goodbye, Fire Lord Zuko."


End file.
